Storage structure



Feb, 24. 1925.

STORAGE A'. H. woonwARD STRUCTURE Filed June`21, 1920 ATTORNEY PatentedF eb. 24, 1925.

ALLAN HARVEY WO'ODWARD,

PATENT OFFIC OF BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA.

STORAGE STRUCTURE.

Application filed June 21,

T 0 @ZZ 'whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, ALLAN H. WOOD- WARD, a citizen of the United Statesof America, residing at Birmingham, in the county of Jefferson and Stateof Alabama, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in aStorage Structure, of Which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a storage struc ture and has for its object toimprove and perfect the type of storage structure forming the subject ofmy Letters Patents Nos. 732,020, and 732,021, issued to me on the 23rdday of J une, 1903, and in which I sho7 bins peculiarly adapted for thestorage of stocks of materials suoli as are used in blast furnaceplants, though obviously, the strucn ture is suited for the storage ofany character of stock or heavy bulky raw materials.

The end in vievv in the design ofthe structure is to eliminate theexpensive construction necessary forl stock bins supported above theground level by causing the stock or material to repose on the groundwith a sub-surface tunnel in Which a stock car or portable bin ismovable for the collection of stock from the different bins or thedesired part of the same bin. In my former invention the stock Wasdumped on the ground from oars on a trestle and rested only in part onan incline bottom, therefore only a small portion of the stock in thestorage structure would move by gravity into the cars under the controlof gated chutes.

By reason of the fact that the larger percentage of the stock in theformer type of bin described rested on the level ground, itdeveloped notonly that a considerable amount of labor was necessary to feed all thestock in any part of the bin to the stock cars, but that as practicedthe stock remote from the inclined bo-ttom chute was allowed toaccumulate' and stand until it made it practically impossible to obtainan accurate inventory or check of the stock. The arrangement forming thesubject of my present invention isespecially 'designed to overcome thenatural conditions in blast furnace Vprac-tice resulting` from thedisadvantages mentioned above and it consists in so designing a-ndarranging the storage structure that While still supporting' the burdenof .the stock on the ground, it permit-s of all VWhen emergency demandsit.

1920. Serial No, 390,340.

stock being cleaned out at Will and without shovelling, the storagestructure being formed with sloping bottom banks formed in part by anexcavation and in part by a bank of the excavated material taken fromthe tunnel and from the excavation for the sloping bottom. The overheadtrack or tracks should be arranged to discharge the stock so that itwill rest Wholly on these sloping banks which have an angle calculatedto cause a gravity flow of the stock deposited thereon to the chuteswhich deliver it to the stock cars. The advantages of this arrangementWill be Well understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art, andespecially in so far as my invention is applicable to blast furnacepractice, Where the ore charged to the furnaces is charged inpre-arranged proportion fixed by the furnace superintendent, and the oreconsumption for the month is based upon the number of skips charged tothe furnace, each skip being presumed to contain the tonnage of eachclass of ore specified by the superintendent. Any storage system Whichtends to mix grades would be obviously objectionable. The former systemof storage did not permit of satisfactory grading of ore, because itWould not run out clean, causing it to mix more or less. For instance,all ores under an incline track may no-t be moved for tivo or threeyears, and then onlyr Conditions of this kind Will, without a doubt,foul all records from year to year; and all records of quality or gradesare apt to lose their identity or value if allowed to mix as mentionedabove.

lVhen dealing With stock-taking in counection with raw materials, theformer stzor` age structure as described will not permit of obtainingproper measurement Within a reasonable margin of accuracy. lot is obvious that the Weight of the given 4unit capacity of ore, say a cubicfoot, will vary throughout a pile built up by dropping oro from varyingheights With a varying degree of density caused thereby. Again, the deadWeight of ore in the pile Will vary according to the physical nature ofthe ore, i. e., as to Whether it is earthy, porous or rocky. It isequally obvious that it would be impossible to reproduce the pressure atthe bottoms of any pile of ore, (particularly so when standing fordifferent lengths of time) in any test taken to arrive at the averageunit Weight of a given capacity of ore in any pile.

From the foregoing' it will be apparent that the only Way to check orestock is an absolute clean up from time to time of the different bins orpiles. By this means Vonly can proper reco-rds be kept, and the presentday methods of accounting makes it essential that all operations must befitted into the accounts system. According to my method of designing astorage structure, I have all of the advantages of a true bin system andyet I still keep the stock on the ground and am able to clean out theore from the storage or any part thereof at any time so as to permitcomplete refilling. Moreover, I can restrict the piles of stock to aworkable size with a view to having a frequent clean up and to aord`opportunity for a close estimate vof their tonnage content.

My invention in its detailed embodiment is illustrated in theaccompanying drawing which is a vertical cross sectional vievv through abin structure in accordance with my invention.

In the embodiment illustrated, the line 1*1 indicates the ground leveland this is excavated to provide the tunnel 2, which in its bottom isprovided With a track Way 3 along` which a stock car or equivalent meansmoves for the purpose of collecting stock from the overhead pile. Thetunnel is lined with concrete sidewalls l connected overhead by an archor dome 5 Which rises approximately to the ground level and is providedon each side along its `iuncture With the side Walls With a series ofstock `discharge ports 6 through which. stock flows into the chutes 7which project into the tunnel sufliciently to discharge into thestockcar when their respective gates 8 are opened by the at-' tendant. 'Iheearth above the tunnel proper and to each side thereof is cut to form asloping bottom 9 and the material excavated from the tunnel is banked oneach side forming earthen embankments 10. The stock Will rest oncontinuous sloping banks having each a facing 1l of concrete or oldbrick fori'ning on each side of the tunnel asloping surface of Suchgrade that the stock itself Will flow easily and by gravity to thegates. -The stock is dropped on the banks from overhead tracks l2disposed each above its respective bin bank 1l in such relation theretothat the stock discharged from the cars on both overhead tracks willassume a stock line substantially as indicated by the dotted line 13with its Whole Weight resting on and supported by the oppositely slopingbanks of the bin.

The tracks are supported by suitable conn crete bents 14 arranged atsuitable intervals and adapted to form supports for transverse Woodencribbing When it is desired to subdivide the bin transversely intoindependent sections.

The bins are tied together by any suitable connections 15 and the gates7 which extend along each side of the tunnel, are relatively staggered.

From the foregoing description it will be observed that .every advantageof a ground bin system is obtained, the stock is supported entirely onthe ground and Without any expensive structural Work, the stock will allflow by gravity to the chutes and discharge itself into the car in thetunnel, and any section of the bin can be cleaned out entirely at anytime Without labor andrefilled -so that the character and grade of thestock is at all times under ready control, and can .be closely checkedboth as to its quantity and its quality, thus materially improving thecentainty and reliability of the material charged to the furnace.

My invention Will be equally important Wherever it is of advantage tostock large quantities of bin material, and particularly Where it is adesideratum that any accumulations of old stock in a bin should beavoided.

This invention is not intended to be restricted in scope to the specificembodiments shown, but contemplates such modifications as come Withinthe spirit and scope ofthe claims.

Having thus describedmy invention, what Iclaim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

y1. A storage bin structure comprising `a tunnel, a track in the tunnelfor a collectingr car, a cover over the tunnel having gate controlledchutes `along each, side, a bin formed above the cover and havingcoutinuous stock supportingbanks sloping up wardly with a uniform pitchfrom the tunnel on each side, said Walls being formed in part belowground level by the ground Walls of the tunnel cut that slope to thetunnel and in-part above ground by embankments formed by the spoil fromthe tunnel, and a concrete facing for said banks `which slopecontinuously and uniformly at such an angle as to feed by gravity allimaterial resting thereon to said chutes.

9,v In an open storage biu structure, a cut in the ground forming atunnel open overhead, the upper portion `of the opposite side Walls ofthe said cut being upwardly and outwardly inclined with respect to theside Walls of said tunnel, embankments formed on the ground surface atthe `opposite sides of the said cut and having i-nclined opposed Wallssloping uniformly in the plane of the inclined Wall portions of the cut,material supporting facings carried material through Said chutes7 andmeans adapted to be moved through said tunnel for collecting materialdischarged through 1U said chutes.

In testimony whereof I atlix my signature.

ALLAN HARVEY WOODWARD.

